LogFAQs > #928565710

62. Bayonetta (Bayonetta)
Nominated by banshiryuu
Lets dance, boys!


The first thing I did when I came to this nomination, before I even looked at Bayos Wiki page, was I googled women on the bayonetta staff. I was looking to see if any prominent people who worked on the games were female. What I found was a discussion among women about whether the character is sexist or problematic. My gut reaction has always been that a character created by men whose very moveset revolves around objectifying herself for the titillation of the (mostly male) demographic is inherently sexist. But some interesting points were brought up, like how just because a woman shows some level of sexuality doesnt make her problematic, and in fact healthy depictions of sexually liberated women can be a good thing. But that goes back to my original point: are these male developers designing this female character to be a liberated, confident, independent woman? Or are they designing her to be the opposite, pure objectification for male gaze?

I dont know. Im inclined to say that Bayo exists in that male gaze realm pretty thoroughly. But I also dont identify as female. I like that Bayo is confident and playful in that Dante sort of way, but I cant shake the feeling that its all meant to cater to horny males. Its disingenuous. Still, the mere existence of this debate makes her more interesting than some of the other characters on the list. I do think the fact that shes laughing at everything is a point in her favor. If she were real, she wouldnt take any of this debate seriously at all. So shes better than, say, Mai on the creepy sexism scale. A lot better.

I think its funny that shes in Smash. What a random pick. She could probably beat up literally every character in the game if were going by canon powers.